Rose and Lu's essays

Both Rose and Lu have very interesting thoughts on the way literature and language can affect one's life. In Lu's essay she discusses what it was like growing up in a Chinese spoken school although her household was English spoken. It was very difficult for her growing up because the languages were easily confused and she often felt a lot different than the other students. In elementary school she had felt good about herself because her teacher had spoken to her in English once when that had not been heard of yet. However, as she got older in school, English was never spoken and she began to get down on herself because of the way she interpreted words due to speaking solely English in her household. The older she got the more she realized that the way she spoke was more about her social class and what her father had done for a living. In Rose's essay, he talked more about pieces he had often read and they way they were written. He noticed more that social class was shown a lot in the way that students had written their essays. Although these essays are much different in the way they are written and what they are about, I believe they both come to the same conclusion - literacy relies much on they way people were brought up, as well as how their parents taught them differently from how the school system taught them.